A campaign against unfair taxation on tampons by the German Government has scooped the PR Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

 'The Tampon Book: A Book Against Tax Discrimination' bypassed Germany’s steep 19% tax on feminine hygiene products by packaging 15 tampons inside a book, which is taxed at the lower rate of 7%. It was part of a wider lobbying campaign to have the tax on feminine hygiene product removed. The campaign was created by integrated agency Scholz & Friends in Berlin for organic tampon business the Female Company.

PR Jury chair Michelle Hutton, managing director of global clients at Edelman, said the campaign is a great example of modern communications.

The PR Lions turned out to be a disappointing night for PR agencies, with campaigns created by advertising and integrated marketing agencies winning five out of the six PR Gold Lions.

Golin Chicago’s campaign for Macdonald’s Big Mac 50th anniversary won the PR Gold Lion in the multimarket category for its idea of launching a food-backed currency called the MacCoin, which boosted global sales by six per cent. The campaign was also awarded a Silver Lion for PR effectiveness.

Meanwhile, Budweiser’s 'Wind Never Felt Better' campaign won a Gold Lion in the food and drink PR category. Created by Miami-based ad agency the David Agency, the Super Bowl ad celebrated the brand’s move to become the first beer to be brewed using 100% renewable electricity from wind power. There was a PR role in the campaign for the 3PM agency in New York.

This is an encouraging Cannes festival for our industry, and the PRCA and ICCO applaud warmly our members for their Lions wins and their Young Lions wins. They are richly deserved," says ICCO chief executive Francis Ingham says, "Nonetheless, we still have further to go. The best work does not always win at Cannes simply because we do not present our results well enough. We are not good enough at showing what we do via the medium of video. Words remain our medium to the expense of other communication tools. If we could change that, then we could prove even more convincingly what we do, and laden down still further the holds of those planes departing Nice.

A PR Gold Lion went to the 'Second Chances' campaign by Donate Life California, created by Casanova and McCann Costa Mesa. The PR was handled by McCann New York. The People’s Beat climate change campaign for The United Nations won a PR Gold Lion in the social community building and management category. Created by Grey London, the PR was handled by influencer agency Whalar London. There was a Gold for the Harmless Guns campaign about 3D printing for Dagoma, created by TBWA Paris and another for Perussian Prices for Plaza Vea. It was created by Farhenheit DDB Lima in Peru.